1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the production of oven-baked pizzas. More specifically, the present invention relates to pizzas baked on a pan with non-uniformly distributed perforations that produces a pizza with improved crust. The present invention further relates to a pizza having a rim portion filled with cheese or another suitable filling. The invention also relates to utensils for cooking food items, and more particularly, to pans adapted for cooking pizza and similar baked products.
2. Description of Related Art
Clearly, the art of producing pizzas is very old. Yet, because of the sizable market for pizza products, there is considerable motivation for the continued improvement of such products and modifications of the processes to produce them while keeping costs down. The most desired processes will be suitable for large-scale production and sales.
Traditional pizza dough is produced from the basic ingredients of flour, water, active yeast and salt. Even with these few basic ingredients, considerable variation in final products is possible. Additional ingredients can be added to produce an improved product or to alter the product. For example, various fats can be added for flavor and consistency.
The simplest way of producing a pizza is first to roll, stretch or press the dough flat. The exact way that the dough is flattened will affect the final consistency of the crust. The toppings, including sauce and cheese, are placed over the top of the dough, leaving a peripheral rim of uncovered dough near the edge. Upon heating, the crust forms a baked consistency with the uncovered edge of the crust expanding to a thicker dimension. In a traditional pan pizza, a pan with sides is used. The crust of a pan pizza is generally thicker, and the crust rises up the sides of the pan. A higher density of toppings is usually used on a pan pizza, and the toppings are supported to some degree by the thicker crust.
Pizzas have been marketed with an entire second layer of crust used in the pizza. This second layer of crust is used to cover either all of the toppings or just some of the toppings. The exact placement of this second layer of dough and the toppings will affect the consistency of the final pizza.
All these different constructions of pizza have a relatively pronounced layer of crust near the edge of the pizza. To many people, his layer of plain crust near the edge is not desirable. This leads, unfortunately, to considerable waste of food. Also, the crust is nutritious, so the discard of this portion is also undesirable for this reason.
An old way of producing a desirable pizza is to bake the pizza on a stone hearth at very high temperatures. Contact with the very hot stone produces a layer on the bottom of the dough with very specific properties including uniform heating and browning. Such stone hearths are not practical for large-scale production at a modest price, however. For large-scale production, special pizza ovens are typically used, either with or without a pan. This produces a different type of bottom layer on the pizza.
It would be desirable to produce a modestly priced pizza in standard pizza ovens that has a crust with properties more closely approximating a hearth-baked pizza. It would also be desirable to produce a pizza that has an outer portion of crust that has greater appeal to the segment of the population that is not fond of typical pizza crust edges. It would also be desirable to be able to produce these improved pizzas at modest cost, without excessive labor, for wide distribution.
Further, commercial pizza manufacturers with national and international distribution, especially pizza restaurants, typically select, develop and promote a number of different pizzas, typically varying at least in the type of crust and the number and types of toppings. Within each pizza type, however, consistency is desired, from pizza to pizza and from restaurant to restaurant. National pizza restaurant chains want to develop the notion that customers can get their favorite pizza, consistently cooked to perfection, at any of the chain's restaurants anywhere in the nation, or, for that matter, the world.
A problem arises, however, in that the restaurants of many national chains are individually owned, and the individual owners select, within certain parameters, different ovens and other devices that affect the baking environment. Different types of ovens, for example, use different fans, thermostats and other heat regulation devices and consequently produce different temperatures and heat flow patterns. Oven size, airflow within the oven, outside temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions also affect heat distribution. Even identical ovens with identical controls and baking volumes are subject to variation in temperature and heat flow, due to manufacturing tolerances and differing calibrations. It becomes very difficult for national pizza chains, therefore, to ensure that restaurants throughout the chain produce pizzas that look, feel and taste the same from restaurant to restaurant.
The problem is exacerbated in that a number of variables affect the look, feel and taste of a pizza as perceived by a customer. The texture of the pizza, for example, is very significant. Many customers desire a "hearth-baked" texture, that is, the texture that would be produced by baking a pizza on an open stone hearth. Such a pizza is placed directly on the stone to bake, and at the end of the baking process is of uniform coloration and texture. Uniform crispness is another variable affecting customer perception. The amount of moisture in the crust significantly affects its crispness; allowing too much moisture to remain after baking causes a flabby, soggy, undesirable product. Further, unless the moisture of the crust is uniform, alternating areas of crispness and sogginess result, which also is very undesirable. Overall consistency and appearance of the pizza, from top to bottom and side to side, is also very important. Because these and other variables all are affected differently and to varying degrees by the various types of ovens and other equipment used from restaurant to restaurant, as well as by variations in temperature, etc. within individual and/or identical ovens, achieving uniformity of all the products served throughout the chain is all the more complicated.
The problem is further heightened with filled-rim pizza of the type disclosed herein. The added thickness of the crust and varying composition of the pizza present unique baking challenges. Baking heat must thoroughly penetrate the center of the pizza and the outer, filled rim, without scorching either. If too little heat is applied to the filled-rim portion, on the other hand, the cheese or other type of stuffing present within the crust will not melt uniformly or to a sufficient extent.
Perforated pans are known in the art for baking food products such as pizza. U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,591 to Power, for example, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a pan with a plurality of perforations uniformly distributed over the entire base surface of the pan. By exposing a substantial portion of the lower dough surface of the pizza to the heat of the oven, a perforated pan shortens the baking time, produces relatively rapid elimination of moisture from the dough, which reduces separation and bubbling effects in the dough, and reduces sticking of the dough to the baking surface of the pan. Pans of the type disclosed in Power, however, have a number of disadvantages. Pizza products cooked in the Power pan tend to come out of the oven with a splotchy, spotty appearance, caused by overdarkening or scorching at the perforations. Additionally, the perforations and spacings between the perforations in Power are too large, resulting in well baked or even overbaked crust portions interspersed with unbaked or underbaked portions. Additionally, pans with perforations of uniform distribution throughout the surface of the pan tend to overbake the edges of the pizza, potentially scorching the crust. Alternatively, if baking is sufficient for the edge portions of the crust, the central section of the pizza tends to be underbaked.
In an attempt to address these latter problems, U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,946 to Barlow et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a pan having a perforated central section surrounded by a solid, non-perforated periphery. Although the solid periphery reduces the amount of heat applied to the dough at the edge of the pizza, relative to periphery of the Power reference, the solid periphery of Barlow et al. tends to fail to allow sufficient heat to reach the dough at the edge of the pizza to sufficiently cook a stuffed or other type crust. Thus, non-uniform baking and coloration result, as well as uneven melting of the cheese supported by the dough. Additionally, the Barlow et al. pan fails to allow the air movement required to withdraw moisture from the bottom crust along the outer edges of the pizza, since perforations are absent.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,151 to Gorsuch et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, also discloses a pan having a solid, non-perforated periphery, along with a central section perforated in a "starburst" pattern. Gorsuch et al. specifically avoided placing perforations at the periphery, stating that if holes were provided in the entire bottom area of the pan, baking of the pizza would not be uniform and the sides of the pizza would be baked prior to the baking of the entire portion, resulting in overbaked sides of the pizza. Unfortunately, however, Gorsuch et al. suffers a great disadvantage with respect to pizzas having a filled rim, because, like Barlow et al., the solid periphery fails to allow sufficient heat to reach the dough at the edge of the pizza to cook a stuffed or other type crust sufficiently. Additionally, regardless of the type of crust, the starburst pattern fails to distribute baking heat in a uniform manner, resulting in uneven coloration and/or baking and possibly in alternating limp and crisp portions.
The perforated pans of the prior art also suffer from other disadvantages, not only with respect to filled-rim pizzas but also with respect to other types of pizzas. None of the prior art pans are able to provide the sought-after hearth-baked texture and consistency described above, because the perforation densities and percentages of open areas are inadequately high and/or low across the pan. Additionally, the perforations of many prior art pans are too large or too small relative to pan thickness and diameter, resulting in sagging/pressing of the dough into the perforations, visible spottiness on the bottom of the cooked crust, inadequate elimination of moisture from the dough, resulting in soggy/flimsy crust and separation and bubbling within the dough, elevated baking times and unnecessary energy use, uneven browning and cheese-melting at the top of the pizza during baking, and even reduced pan strength.
Further, neither the perforated nor non-perforated pans of the prior art are able adequately to accomplish the uniformity of results desired from restaurant to restaurant and oven to oven, as described above.